JEFFERSON TWP— When it comes to pitching horseshoes, Runt's Roadhouse doesn't horse around.

The 19-member team recently won its fifth consecutive Butler County Horseshoe League championship — tying a league record — and has won eight league titles in the past nine years.

Runt's Roadhouse also has finished in first place during the regular season for nine consecutive years. The team, previously known as Peter B's and Alexander's, has been around only since 1998.

"We like hanging out together and we enjoy practicing together," team captain Shawn Beatty said. "It's a good crowd and we have a lot of good laughs.

"Practice is all about getting better. ... But, man, it's so much fun."

Beatty is one of seven team members who have been with the squad throughout its history. Buddy Truckley has been there 10 years as well, along with a slew of Gizienski family members — Rock, Ivan, Noogie, Butch and Steve.

Another Gizienski, Sean, has played on the team for six years.

"He left and came back,"Beatty said. "Those guys are all brothers or cousins and have plenty of personality. I don't even know some of their real names."

But they can pitch a horseshoe. All of these guys can. So can Crista Ross and Nancy Rankin, two female team members.

Ivan Gizienski, the team's founder, was inducted into the Butler County Horseshoe Hall of Fame this year. Truckley has been a co-captain or team captain every year. Beatty is president of the league.

"If you go around the league, you won't see many teams practicing,"said Phil Doyle, a team member for six years. "With Runt's, we have 12 to 15 guys out there practicing every Monday night."

Those practice sessions aren't short, either. Players arrive at the court by Runt's Roadhouse at 5:30 p.m. and usually don't leave until 10:30 p.m.

"We split into teams and have two teams play on one court, two teams play on the other,"nine-year team member Mike Stasenko said. "After one game, we'll switch around the matchups to keep things fresh.

"Practicing the swing, getting the muscle memory down is the key. ... It's the same shot each time."

The league hosts a ringer tournament each year at season's end, with Class Apitting the best players against each other, with subsequent divisions on down to Class I. Doyle won the Class A competition by ringing 15 out of 26 shoes (57.69 percent).

Beatty won Class B by ringing 16 of 26. Butch Gizienski won Class C by ringing 11 of 26 and Ross won Class D by ringing 12 of 26.

As a team, Runt's Roadhouse scored a ringer on 37.51 percent of its tosses all season. Doyle led the team with a season ringer percentage of 48.56.

Seven other players, Rock Gizienski, Beatty, Stasenko, Bullet Turley, Rankin, Truckley and Ivan Gizienski, were all above 41 percent for the year.

"Keen eye, steady nerve and a helluva lot of luck. That's how it's done,"Doyle said, laughing.

"When they first asked me to join the team, I figured I'd give it a try, but if there was a bunch of bellyaching and complaining, I was getting out,"he said. "For six years now, I've never heard anybody on this team put down anybody.

"These guys have fun, but they're pretty serious about their horseshoes," he added.

Stasenko took up horseshoes after a knee operation ended his slow-pitch softball career.

"Horseshoes is the type of game that as you practice, you get better," he said. "A lot of guys on the team have their own pits and practice on their own."

Count Doyle among them.

"I'm retired, so I'll go in the backyard and pitch shoes for an hour or two a day,"Doyle said.

One other team — Woodbine/Barrel from 1977-81 and Barrel from 1986-90 — has won five straight league titles. No team has won six.

Runt's Roadhouse looks to change that in 2008.

"We've already been talking about that,"Beatty said. "We take a lot of pride in what we've done and we want to keep doing it."